We like to keep aquariums in our home. We have a lovely 70 gallon one in our kitchen. To me, it’s relaxing to sit down with my coffee and just watch the fish in the aquarium. We keep assorted types:
Angels
Mollies
Eels
Tetras
We like to keep crabs, too - - those are pretty entertaining.
Recently, we added Puffer Fish to the tank. They are SO cute and fun to watch, as well. It turns out? Puffer fish are the predatory sort. And - they eat shellfish like snails, shrimp… and crabs. Shortly after placing the Puffers in our tank - our crabs went missing.
The Puffers have also attacked our one beautiful red and purple Beta.
I feel bad now. The poor crabs and Beta fish had no idea what was coming. So trusting were they in their comfortable home - with caregivers who feed them every day and keep their environment nice and clean. Only to one day find that those same caregivers inserted two predators into their tank! Oh the guilt!
I have a small 40 gallon tank that we’ve not been using. We’re in the process of setting that tank up for the Puffers new home. I had no idea that Puffers were predatory!
1:28 am on November 6th, 2006
I have always wanted to start an aquarium and just had no clue how to start one! I’m impressed that you’ve got such a huge one! I’ve got 3 little betas, but they’re all in different tanks (don’t want them to eat each other). I didn’t know you could put them in with other fish!
Sorry about the puffer fish! That sucks that your crabbies are gone!
5:59 am on November 6th, 2006
Betas are so beautiful - wish we could have more than one in the tank. That’s the thing about Betas, though - they aren’t aggressive fish - unless they are together. If you put more than one Beta in a tank together - they’ll attack one another until one or both is dead. But you can have one in an aquarium with other fish - but no more than one.
Happily - of the 5 crabs that we had - - we did find one last night! He had burrowed himself a hole underneath one of the rocks and hangs out there all day, hiding from the Puffer fish.
We just about have that second 40 gallon tank set up and will be ready to transfer the Puffers over to it, before they start nibbling on our angel fish!
1:07 pm on November 6th, 2006
Not touching how Lisa and Chris have crabs…
A 70 gallon tank is a nice start… we have a 220 semi-reef saltwater tank in our office and used to have a very active 125 gal. saltwater at home which is now just down to two clown fish. I really gotta get the home tank up and running better, but since we moved our living room it’s in a really lousy place and neither of us like the idea of what it’s going to take to move it. Freshwater tanks were okay at best and always bored me a little, but the little extra work it takes to do saltwater was well worth it to me.
Lindsey - find a good fish store near you or check online. A little reading goes a very long way when it comes to fish, and there’s some very good books out there for starters that they can clue you into before you start.
1:15 pm on November 6th, 2006
We don’t have as many crabs as we used to! lol
When we were at the fish store this weekend (that’s when we picked up the killer Puffer fish) - Chris was eyeing up a 225 gal tank that they had on sale. He really wants to start a saltwater reef tank.
I got the small 40 gallon tank up and running yesterday - and we transferred the killer Puffer fish into it this afternoon. We’re headed to the fish store tonight to see if we can’t nab more crabs
Not only did those Puffers eat our crabs - - but they ate THREE of the mollies, too! Yes, it is a VERY good idea to read up on fish before you add them to your tank. I’ve read up on Puffers since this weekend and had I known then what I know now!
1:37 pm on November 6th, 2006
225 is a great size for a saltwater tank. Some of the fish are a bit more sensitive, so it’s hard for something that size to have too drastic of changes. If you decide to do a saltwater, drop me an e-mail and I’ll let you know a few really good books to get you started that lay down the basics very well as well as answering any other questions you might have.
1:40 pm on November 6th, 2006
Oh, and 55 gal. is considered about a minimum to start a saltwater tank…
2:10 pm on November 6th, 2006
I had NO clue puffer fish were like that…
I would get that crabs issue checked out!!
2:15 pm on November 6th, 2006
Ya know - - when I was making this post… I had a lingering thought enter my head…
“I really shouldn’t talk about having crabs…..”
Turns out? I was right! LOL
2:17 pm on November 6th, 2006
Astro - will surely drop you a line when we’re ready to start teh saltwater tank. Though, I know Chris well enough to know that if he is going to start something like that - - he’ll need to go all the way, ya know? He’d probably be looking at at least a 2 grand initial investment
Is it pretty expensive?
2:17 pm on November 6th, 2006
OH - for example.. he was looking at bubble coral this morning.
$50 for the coral - - is that typical of that kinda thing?
4:59 pm on November 6th, 2006
Yes, that’s very typical for corals. The plus side is that bubble corals are supposed to be some of the easier to take care of. Going all the way on a bunch of stuff with saltwater isn’t a problem. The main thing is to know what you’re getting into right away so that you can get the right setup. There’s some things you need regardless, but a lot of stuff can be specialized if you want to do certain things. For example, clams are really freaking cool, but they take some very intense lighting, special bulbs, etc. I’ll try to remember when I get home to see which the really good books we had for getting started were and e-mail them to you (if I can find your addy) or post them here…
11:22 am on November 7th, 2006
MURDERER!!!!!
12:39 pm on November 7th, 2006
It is worth noting for those out there who do not have a tank and are thinking of going for it, Salt water tanks are considerably more difficult to get up and running and the fish are much more sensative to “nistakes” Tropical fish (freshwater) are a better place to start. I have just broken down all my tanks and re homed the fish before I move, once I am set up in the new house Mr reef tank will beckon…. BTW $2000 sounds about right, Saltwater are also considerably more expensive too usually $30 - $100 vs $1 - $10. for trops, but then they are prettier and bigger and way more interesting and challenging, and when you are shelling out $50 for a fish you read about their agressive nature BEFORE you put them in your tank!!!
5:51 pm on November 7th, 2006
Oh No! I’m sorry to hear about what happened. I have a fish, in a 40 gallon tank. We can’t put anything else in the tank because the fish we have now is a 1 Year old Tiger Oscar Cichlid. Those types of fish will go after and possibly kill any other fish that comes into it’s territory, except for fish larger that itself. We had our fish since it was a baby, it’s not even full grown yet, but it already killed 3 tetras, and a small bottomfeeder. We might get another tank sometime, and get more fish. I hope we can.
(I also hope we can get a puffer, too, because they are really cute
1:44 am on November 10th, 2006
i am happy to come here
9:48 pm on January 17th, 2007
Puffers are poisonous. And highly aggressive. I’ve heard of puffers killing off everything else in a tank because they wind up poisoning the water. I’ve never had them so I can’t say…
Bettas…won’t eat each other as much as just fight. Males will often fight to the death. Males and females sometimes do ok (I have one of each in a 55) - I’ve had multiple females together too. No problems. It’s the males you can’t put together.
11:39 am on April 10th, 2007
To the above, puffers aren’t toxic in general, only certain species.
I had a similar experience years ago with a Hawaiian Blue Puffer. He ate all my snails, but he left my scarlet hermit crabs alone (they were pretty large). He was a voracious predator.